For the Love of Books
by S J Smith
Summary: Jean doesn't know what kind of gift to get for Sciezca.


**Title:** For the Love of Books

**Author:** S J Smith

**Rating:** Teenish

**Summary:** Jean really doesn't know what to get Sciezca as a gift.

**Disclaimer:** If I had any part of this, I wouldn't wonder if I can pay my bills this month.

**Notes: ** Written for the LJ Community, FMAGiftExchange.

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Jean scratched the back of his neck, staring up at the sign above the shop – _Brutz Books_. "Aw, man," he said, scuffing his foot over the sidewalk. He didn't want to go in there. Books themselves weren't too bad; especially the ones with the steamy scenes, but he'd never really been too much for learning. He knew how to break down and put together a rifle or a pistol in the dark, could roll a cigarette blindfolded, and how to get a pretty girl's bra off with one hand without looking. Wasn't anything he'd learned from a book.

That didn't mean he didn't think they had their place. Books, after all, were how the chief learned his alchemy. And Sciezca had this thing for them. They were absolutely everywhere in her apartment, covering every surface. The first time he'd gone to pick her up, he couldn't hide his shock at just how many there could be in one person's house. It had to be like living in a library, and the paths through the books were, well, Jean really couldn't imagine himself fitting in there. He'd be afraid to light up with all that tinder in one place.

But that didn't mean the owner of those books hadn't gotten his attention. Sciezca had ran smack into him, on some errand from Investigations, and her files and papers had gone _everywhere._ She'd apologized, flustered and bowing, and Jean had thought she was cute enough to ask her out that night. She'd squeaked like a mouse, blushing bright red, making her pretty eyes sparkle, but turned him down.

That had been a while back, before he'd met Solaris, and lost the use of his legs. And way before the Promised Day. Since then, he'd met pretty Miss Sciezca again, and even though he was hobbling around with a cane, she seemed a lot less flustered when he'd asked her out. And she'd even agreed, and that's how he'd found out about all the books, and how Sciezca remembered everything she'd ever read, and made him feel kinda like a dummy, because while he could remember orders made, and work out math, and decide just how much gunpowder went into a shell casing with some shot to make a bullet, books just weren't his thing.

They'd been seeing each other once a week for about six weeks now, and Jean wanted to get Sciezca something special. Not flowers, flowers died – and besides, the last time he'd gotten a girl flowers, look how that'd turned out. A book seemed like the right answer, but what kind? And how would he know he wasn't getting something Sceizca had already read? He'd asked the Chief for a good book store, and that's why he was here, but still, Jean hesitated before going inside.

"Buck up, soldier," he told himself finally, and walked inside, feeling for a long moment like he was in the wrong place. Standing there, in the place that smelled like Sciezca's apartment, Jean didn't even know where to go and what to look for. Taking a deep breath, he made his decision.

X X X

Sciezca blinked in surprise at the box, wrapped up in paper and tied with a ribbon. "What's this?"

"Just a little something from me to you," Jean said, smiling that lazy smile that made her want to kiss it.

"A present?" She picked it up, marveling at how prettily it was wrapped. "Can I open it?"

Jean teased her with that smile again. "Well, if you want."

Tugging the ribbon, Sciezca tossed it aside, and ripped the paper free. The lid came off easily, and she peered inside at a myriad amount of tissue paper, all in various shades of pink and rose and white. She rummaged through the paper, spying a flash of different color beneath the tissue, and she closed her hand around it. "What is it?" It wasn't a book, not from the slithery sensation in her hand, and Sciezca pulled it out, her mouth gaping at the sight of a pair of silky pink panties, with lace at the waist band, and words printed all over them; words like, _Sexy_ and _Cherry_ and _Hubba Hubba_. Rounding on him, she exclaimed, "Jean!"

"I couldn't think of any book you hadn't already read, and I didn't want to give you flowers, because they die. But I thought you might like a little light reading, sometime late at night."

Her cheeks heating up, Sciezca wondered, "Maybe you'd like to do some reading with me?"

Jean's smile broadened. "Sweetheart, I thought you'd never ask."

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~ end ~


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